Home is Where the Heart is
by Maddeninglylost
Summary: Peter had a life, he had a world. He was a King, a High King at that. If he had such a perfect life, than why did Aslan send him back? Thoughts of Peter's before and at the beginning of Prince Caspian.
**Constuctive critism is appreciated. Thanks for reading! I could make this more than a oneshot, but I'm not quite sure so... We'll see how this turns out.**

 **Disclaimer: As always, I do not own Narnia or any of the characters.**

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Peter was tired. Tired of the disconnected looks of all of the regular people, tired of all the lifelessness of these living people with dead souls. Tired of being treated like a child, although technically he was. Now, at least. He wasn't a child before. He had ruled a kingdom. He had lived in a world where everything was alive, not just living. A world where he was treated with respect and admiration.

He missed it. He would give up his life on Earth in a second if it meant he could go back to Narnia. If made him so _angry_ to be in this world, helpless to all the rush and madness of these normal people. People who would have been his subjects in Narnia. He felt like Aslan had abandoned him, which made him madder at himself for feeling this way. Why couldn't he have unwavering faith, like Lucy? He would never tell her, but he admired the way she could believe in Aslan even after he had sent them back to this cold world. She was still so sure that they would be going back that just being with her made him believe a little more, but it had been a year. How much longer could they wait?

Maybe he was the reason they hadn't went back yet. His lack of faith was holding them back from going back. It's not like he was the only one who was struggling to believe. Susan was finding it hard to be faithful too, or rather, she had stopped trying. She was a shell of what she used to be, more Earthly than Narnian now. It mad him sad to see the way she was now.

"You alright, Pete?" Lucy asked, laying a hand on his shoulder. Even after a year he hadn't adjusted to having to look so far down to talk to her.

"I'm fine Lu." He added a smile for her sake. He loved Lucy more than life itself and would go to the end of the world for her. She was his youngest sister, but she felt more like his own child. With the war tearing them apart from their family when they were younger, her greatest safety lied in him. Going to Narnia only made them closer. He was her guardian and protector for more than 15 years and it showed in the way they acted. People in this world thought he was a wonderful older brother, but bordering on extreme. Old habits die hard.

Him, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy were heading to the railway station. It was always challenging to try to navigate such a busy place and keep all of their group together, but today seemed especially difficult. There was something in the air. It just didn't feel right. Peter felt himself get irritable at not knowing what was happening.

Once they got close to the station, Susan opted to separate from the group to go to a nearby magazine stand.

"Don't be late. The train won't wait for you." Peter said with a slightly commanding tone.

"I wish you wouldn't worry so much. I can take care of myself." Susan replied rather tightly. It was a very Earthly tone of voice. It almost made Peter shiver to hear this on his own sister.

Peter, Edmund and Lucy went into the railway station, passing the stone lion at the entrance as they went. He glanced up at it, holding the look maybe a little to long.

 _Aslan, please take us back to Narnia before we are permanently changed by this world._ And the sad truth was that they really were all being changed by Earth. He himself was changing.

The railway station was packed, making Peter wish he had stayed out with Susan, but his pride would never let him go back out and tell her she had the better idea. People were everywhere. He wanted to grab Lucy's hand to make sure she didn't get lost, but she probably wouldn't like be treated so much like a child. Suddenly he was bumped into by a boy roughly his age. It wasn't a tough hit, but he had to stop himself from reaching for a sword that wasn't there.

"Are you going to apologize?" the boy said. Why should he apologize? He was the one that got bumped into. His obvious lack of apology must have been written on his face, as Edmund was quick to tell him to leave before a fight started.

"Just walk away Pete. It's not worth it," Edmund said. He always did pick and choose his fights careful, just in even the smallest things, but I was not the same. I wouldn't let this boy, this mere child disrespect me and try to make me apologize for something that _he_ did.

Lucy was watching him with wide eyes, waiting to see his next move. He knew that all his fighting was putting her on edge, but he just couldn't help it.

"Are you going to apologize, punk, or do we need to make you?" The boy was soon surrounds by two of his lackeys, ready to try and put him in my place. Before they could react he pulled his arm back and swung at the nearest ones face, relishing in the sweet pain of the impact. He vaguely heard Lucy running off, probably to go get

Susan. The boys were fighting him back strongly, but almost like they were afraid, like they didn't expect to start a fight with someone who would fight back.

They fight continued for a short while. He never really got the upper hand, and when he felt like he was really losing Edmund jumped in to help him. There was a crowd surrounding them by now, thriving in the thrill of violence. It was sickening. Peter found it even worse because, in a way, it was what he was doing too.

"Break it up, break it up!" Soldiers were coming in, dispersing the crowd and picking the boys off of each other. "Act your age!" says the man that pulled him up. If only he knew how much Peter wished he could.

All of them moved to set on a nearby bench. Peter could already hear the lecture he was about to receive. When did he become the one who got treated like the child instead of the parent?

"You're welcome." Edmund said sarcastically as he set down his luggage and lowered himself onto the bench.

"I had it sorted." He was lying. How Earthly.

"What was it this time?" Susan asked. It didn't really matter. He didn't know why she even bothered to ask.

"He bumped me."

"So you hit him?" Susan said with an air of exasperation.

"No. After he bumped me, he tried to get me to apologize. That's when I hit him." Did she really think so low of him to think that he would hit someone for just bumping into him?

"Why can't you just walk away?" How could she not understand? How could Susan act as if she was okay with being treated so much less than what they were?

'I shouldn't have to! Don't you ever get tired of being treated like a kid?" They have had this argument a million times. This would all be so much easier if they could work through this together, to work as a unit like they used to.

"Uh, we are kids." Edmund acts like he didn't try to convince himself of this daily. How much easier going back to England be if he still felt like a kid, still thought like one.

"Well, I wasn't always. It has been a year. How much longer does he expect us to wait?" He could feel Lucy looking at him. She looked disappointed in him. He was disappointed in himself.

"I think it's time to except that we live here. There's no use in pretending any differently." Susan always was a little too logical, but this hurt. It almost physically hurt him to see his sister lose hope this fast. He was so hypocritical.

Susan looked behind her and saw a rather geeky looking boy approaching her and turned back around quickly. "Pretend you're talking to me." Edmund looked at her in a way that would have made him laugh a year age.

"We _are_ talking to you."

"Ow!" Lucy said as she jumped up.

"Be quiet Lucy!" Susan said. Of course, she was thinking only about how to get rid of the boy.

Suddenly he felt it too. It was a tug, almost a pinch. "Hey, stop pulling!" Why would Edmund pinch both him _and_ Lucy? Lucy did nothing wrong.

"I'm not touching you!" If it wasn't Edmund, then who was it? Someone pinched him, unless….

Hey, what is that?" Susan said. A train suddenly flew by. It was going quicker than a normal train. It didn't look familiar to him, either. The markings were all wrong.

"It feels like magic," Lucy muttered. He felt himself getting excited. If there was magic than that meant Aslan hadn't left them, he was taking them back!

"Quick, everybody hold hands." Susan almost had to yell to be heard over the train. If he wasn't so excited he would have laughed at the way her hair was blowing. Sophisticated Susan didn't look so sophisticated right now.

"I'm not holding your hand!" Edmund said, scared it would embarrass him. But now that he thought about it, there was no one to be embarrassed by. All of the people had disappeared. Peter quickly grabbed Edmund's hand as the train sped up. They could see in flashed the bricks falling away. The railway station was vanishing.

Suddenly the train passed, dissolving as it went, until it had left them completely alone in a cave over looking a beach. They all stepped out into the sunlight. He could feel the warm glow on his skin, refreshing like nothing on Earth ever was. Susan and Lucy looked at each other and smiled. They ran towards the water, Edmund and Peter not far behind. To see his siblings so free, to feel the warm sun on his skin and to have the cool water splash around him put Peter in a safe place where nothing could ever harm him.

He was home.


End file.
